Motorist guilty of killing pedestrian helping dog

Feb. 14, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Friends and family members brought Valentine's day balloons, hearts and cards for Mara Steves, the Laguna Niguel woman who was trying to corral a stray dog when she was hit by an SUV on Feb. 13, 2011. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Adam Harrison Hall

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Flowers, candles, stuffed animals and handwritten notes make up a memorial for Mara Steves, 48, who was standing near the intersection of Moulton Parkway and Nueva Vista trying to corral a stray dog when she was hit by an SUV on Feb. 13, 2011. SAM GANGWER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Steves family, Jonathan, Mara, Hannah and John, sent this photo out with holiday cards. COURTESY OF JOHN STEVES

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Mara Steves, 48, was standing at an intersection trying to corral a stray dog when she was hit by an SUV and killed on Feb. 13, 2011, in Laguna Niguel. Adam Harrison Hall of Placentia was convicted in the case. COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES, IMAGE COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES

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Friends and relatives mourned the loss of Mara Steves at a sidewalk memorial in Laguna Niguel in February 2011. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Friends and relatives mourned the loss of Mara Steves at a sidewalk memorial in Laguna Niguel in February 2011. ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Friends and family members brought Valentine's day balloons, hearts and cards for Mara Steves, the Laguna Niguel woman who was trying to corral a stray dog when she was hit by an SUV on Feb. 13, 2011.ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – A Placentia man looked straight ahead Thursday as an Orange County jury found him guilty of second-degree murder in a drug-induced crash that resulted in the death of a woman helping a lost dog.

The panel of five men and seven women deliberated about a day before returning guilty verdicts for Adam Harrison Hall on several other charges, including obtaining or possessing drugs secured by a forged prescription.

Deputy District Attorney Troy Pino said jurors did the right thing.

"I am pleased that the defendant was held accountable," he said.

Hall, 29, faces about 20 years to life in prison at his April 5 sentencing by Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson, Pino said.

Hall drove through a red light on Moulton Parkway and Nueva Vista Drive in Laguna Niguel on Feb. 13, 2011, in a Ford sport utility vehicle and crashed into a Toyota SUV that was passing through the intersection, prosecutors said. As a result, Hall lost control of his Ford and drove over a curb and onto a sidewalk, where he fatally struck Mara Lynnes Steves, 48, who was attempting to find the owner of a stray dog.

The driver of the Toyota, Steven James, and his passenger, Anna Gaffney, were injured in the crash.

The jury found Hall not guilty of felony driving under the influence causing injury to them but convicted him of misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs.

Steves was honored by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for her efforts in helping the lost dog, a Labrador retriever named Max. The dog also was injured, but survived.

Steves' husband, John, wiped tears in court.

"There are no winners in this case," he said afterward. "I will never get Mara back, and my children will never have their mother back, but justice has been served for Mara. (Hall) cannot cause so much pain and agony to another family like the pain he has inflicted on us."

John Steves wore a red wrist band inscribed with the words: "Mara queen of hearts."

He said the woman he knew for 21 years loved Valentine's Day and the color red. The couple's 19th wedding anniversary would have been Feb. 12.

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